Snowboarding and Marathon Training Don’t Mix

Runners training for marathons are constantly making a trade between risking injury while doing non-running activities and having marathon training dominate their life. A week before I ran my first marathon I risked serious ankle injury while canoeing in the BWCA, which often involves simultaneously carrying a heavy pack and canoe over slippery rocks. That was not very smart one week before the marathon race, but it was hard to turn down an opportunity to spend a week of outdoor adventure with my brother. I probably won’t do something like that again so close to race time, but for the 5 to 6 months it takes to train for a marathon I cannot just run and put the rest of my life on hold. Two Saturdays ago I went snowboarding with my son and other family members and injured my lower back.

I was trying a triple back flip off a jump and didn’t quite make the third flip before my landing. Well, that’s what my ego would like to believe. Actually I was in the lift line on the flattest possible ground and when trying to move slowly forward on my board something snapped in my lower back. It’s amazing how something so easy and simple can cause so much pain. I had a lot of back problems at one time, but since starting running it has been rare. I probably should be doing some additional exercises to strengthen my mid section to further help my back.

I couldn’t walk normal without pain until Friday last week. I didn’t run at all last week to give my back time to heal. Yesterday I ran 6 miles with no pain, so it looks like I’m back on track. This Wednesday I have my sixth chemo treatment, so I’ll have to push hard to get a lot miles this week. Hopefully it’ll be my last treatment.

Completing Grandma’s marathon is very important to me. It has been a key focus point that has helped me through my battle with cancer. So from now until race time I’ll be much more careful about what I do. I’m planning on trying wakeboarding this summer, but that’ll have to wait until July. Now if I can talk my wife into me not doing any chores for the next couple of months. You never know, mowing the yard and taking out the trash has some risk of injury. You think she’ll buy that?